Not In My Kitchen

Although the origins of San Francisco sourdough are sketchy, historians know that this distinctive bread was a staple of the '49ers. (A name given to the people who flocked to California to mine gold in 1849)

The wild "lacto bacillus San Francisco" that is contained in the ‘mother dough’ gives each loaf its distinctive "sour" tang. It is site specific, changing in response to the temperature and humidity. The mother dough in one bakery will not be the same as the mother dough in another bakery across town, nor will it remain the same if the bakery is moved.

If you have re-cultured a batch of yogurt by adding active yogurt to a fresh batch of milk and allowed it to “grow”, you have experienced the sourdough concept. The distinct difference is that the yogurt is kept covered to prevent other bacteria from taking hold and spoiling the batch and over time the yogurt producing microbes will mutate with each generational batch causing the yogurt to be reduced in quality. Eventually, the process must begin anew with a fresh starter. Sourdough on the other hand, is intentionally exposed to the air, fed and allowed to mutate at will; that’s the beauty of it.

The baked goods produced from a strong sourdough mother-sponge will automatically taste better and have greater character than a loaf made using fresh or active dry yeast. More importantly, those flavors and textures are going to be your own. Each time the starter is used and replenished, microscopic changes will occur and over time a unique mother of sourdough will develop. As the evolution progresses over months and then years, your sourdough starter will become yours alone. A portion passed on to a friend cannot remain yours. It must inevitably acclimate to its new home by becoming a one-of-a-kind expression of the surroundings.

The authentic natural sourdough process remains one of the best breads produced anywhere in the world. In the United States and in some areas around the world, San Francisco sourdough is regarded as the benchmark by which all other sourdough breads are judged.